Shashi Tharoor accused Bandi Sanjay of violating MCC
Indian National Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Shashi Tharoor took to his X (formerly Twitter) and shared a cutting of a newspaper. The newspaper cutting stated senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and candidate from Karimnagar in Telangana, Bandi Sanjay, is distributing a photo frame of the Sri Ram temple, which was inaugurated on January 22. It further added that Sanjay has already distributed around five lakh photo frames among voters. However, the newspaper cutting does not mention the date on which the photo frames were distributed. Sharing the newspaper cutting, Mr Tharoor cited the Election Commission’s model code of conduct, which prohibits political parties from using religion and caste as a platform for seeking votes. He wrote, “According to the ECI’s Model Code of Conduct at https://eci.gov.in/mcc/, “3) There shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes. Mosques, Churches, Temples or other places of worship shall not be used as forum for election propaganda.” Is @ECISVEEP asleep?” (Archived link)
Another senior leader of Congress, Jairam Ramesh, quoting Shashi Tharoor wrote, “We have complained repeatedly to the EC on such blatant and brazen violations of not just the Model of Conduct but also of RPA, 1951 and of various Supreme Court verdicts. We await action.” (Archived link)
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We searched relevant keywords like “Bandi Sanjay distributes Ram temple photo frame in Karimnagar” and found a video of V6 News Telugu on YouTube. It was shared 2 months ago i.e. on February 8. The title of the video reads, “BJP leaders distribute Ayodhya Ram photo frames organized by MP Bandi Sanjay.” Here it was revealed that the instance of distribution of photo frames by Bandi Sanjay in Karimnagar is of 8th February.
After this we searched on which date the Model Code of Conduct came into force for the ongoing elections. According to The Hindu report, on March 16, the ECI announced the dates for the seven-phase voting and also imposed the model code of conduct and asked political parties not to appeal to caste or communal sentiments to garner votes. And one should also avoid using mosques, churches, temples or other places of worship as forum for election propaganda.
Moreover, we also found a press note dated March 16 on the ECI website announcing the dates of Lok Sabha elections and also stating that the Model Code of Conduct has come into force.
Furthermore, a tweet from the official X handle of Bandi Sanjay was also found, where he addressed Shashi Tharoor’s accusation and wrote, “Congress will not attend Lord Ram’s Pranaprathishta in Ayodhya and now has an objection if a Karsevak like me distributed photo frames. Frames were distributed when there was no model code of conduct in February.” Bandi Sanjay also challenged Congress MP to prove that the frames were distributed after the Model Code of Conduct came into force. (Archived link of the tweet)
Conclusion: The allegation leveled by Shashi Tharoor against Bandi Sanjay for violating the Model Code of Conduct by distributing Ram Mandir photo frames is misleading as the frames were distributed when the Model Code of Conduct was not in force.
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